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Make a recovery disc from a Toshiba Recovery Partition

NextClick

Posted 10 January 2012 - 09:50 AM

NextClick

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Using SWM files to recover my drive.

Hello everyone I’m here to share a simple process that could help hundreds of people that have the same problem I had today. I have a Toshiba Laptop and the drive was going bad. So I tried to reset to factory so that I could clone the drive. But while in the factory reset process the system froze and forced me to reboot! Yep that’s right I lost the factory reset option!

Luckily I was able to copy the swm ( 13 files in all ) files from the D:\HDDRecovery\ zzimage folder from the Toshiba recovery partition to a flash drive. Then I created a bat file named “ resettofactory.bat “ in notepad to use imagex to apply the swm files to the main drive partition.

Then I edited a iso of a Windows 7 repair cd and placed all the swm files along with imagex and it’s associate files to a folder named Factoryreset in the root directory on the iso, then burned to dvd. Yep works like the manufactures recovery discs .

I boot to dvd
then click on “ repair your computer “
then click on “ Command Prompt “
then X:\Sources> displays
then switch to my dvd drive letter
and type “ cd factoryreset “ and press enter button to switch to factoryreset folder where the files are to recovery my computer. Then I just typed resettofactory then pressed the enter button and it starts. You will see a progress bar 100% when done then reboot that’s it. Their it is, a way to make your own factory recovery disc from a Toshiba recovery partition

tonysmith123123

Posted 02 September 2012 - 07:39 PM

Thank you for your guide. I really appreciate your help.
In the spirit of sharing, I would like to share my way, which came from your guidance.

First of all, your DVD method is the GOLD.
In my case, I was in quick need of restoring the image so I did not make the DVD. So, I copied the file called imagex.exe into the folders that was holding all the file .SWM.
Then, I ran your command and it worked.

I had a VISTA installation disk, which allowed me to boot from DVD into menu with option COMMAND PROMPT.
At command prompt, I saw X:\ (which is the folder of the DVD.)
To get to the folder of that was holding files .SWM, I typed d:\
then, to go into the folder that was holding my TOSHIBA's .SWM files, I typed CD ZZIMG
In the folder, I found my file called imagex.exe (which I put in the folder) and all files that end with .SWM (which TOSHIBA put in the folder.)
I ran your command and it worked.

imagex /ref PREINST*.SWM /apply PREINST.SWM 1 C:\

Thank you very much.

Again, your DVD method is the GOLD.
My method is just a way that may be handy if anyone would like to follow your way right away.
I am now making my DVD the way you taught. Thank you very much again. Please continue to share and help others.

Posted 15 September 2012 - 10:19 PM

pnieset

Posted 28 October 2012 - 06:35 PM

pnieset

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ok I have tried this method and the DVD's wont work for me I did like this post suggests and put the folder "Factoryreset" in the root of a Windoes 7 repair and when I booted it up got an error message stating that I needed to put in a bootable media device. tried it where I used the Windows 7 repair disk without the extra and was able to put the dvd with the SWM files on it into the drive but got another error. So what am I doing wrong here?

jaclaz

Posted 29 October 2012 - 03:31 AM

jaclaz

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ok I have tried this method and the DVD's wont work for me I did like this post suggests and put the folder "Factoryreset" in the root of a Windoes 7 repair and when I booted it up got an error message stating that I needed to put in a bootable media device. tried it where I used the Windows 7 repair disk without the extra and was able to put the dvd with the SWM files on it into the drive but got another error. So what am I doing wrong here?

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two mistakes:

you are panicking (you should not )

you are failing to report how EXACTLY you "put the folder "Factoryreset" in the root of a Windoes 7 repair", etc.

Most probably you used an incorrect method or tool to modify the Windows 7 "repair" .iso, thus making it not bootable.

kohlerbkqn

Posted 29 October 2012 - 06:06 AM

kohlerbkqn

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Yes, pnieset

Firstly, you probably got something wrong during make a bootable disk. You can use Ultra ISO or Power ISO software to edit the original setup disk, then built to ISO file. Later, you burn this ISO file to disk. This is simple way to do but will not make you confuse.

The second thing is that you need to check the Folder name that holding the SWM file or image.exe because as my notice, some Toshiba model has difference folder in name. You can refer this valuable topic to do similar thing for you

kohlerbkqn

Posted 29 October 2012 - 09:45 AM

kohlerbkqn

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ok I have tried this method and the DVD's wont work for me I did like this post suggests and put the folder "Factoryreset" in the root of a Windoes 7 repair and when I booted it up got an error message stating that I needed to put in a bootable media device. tried it where I used the Windows 7 repair disk without the extra and was able to put the dvd with the SWM files on it into the drive but got another error. So what am I doing wrong here?

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Simplest Method If you still have HDD Recovery on partition D, you can make Recovery Disc as normal by using Toshiba Recovery Disk Creator software :

pnieset

Posted 01 November 2012 - 07:35 PM

pnieset

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Ok not panicking just getting frustrated. I cannot use the recovery partition because the drive was a total loss I was able to get the recovery files and some of the personal files off the drive using a Ubuntu LiveCD. The recovery partition was called "HDDRECOVERY" could I use that as the folder name in my recovery cd's? I am trying to create some recovery disk's for the person who owns this laptop so if this happens again I have them at hand.

I used the command that was used in the firstt post on how to do this.

My batch file command “ imagex /ref PREINST*.SWM /apply PREINST.SWM 1 C:\ ”
I put it in a batch file created using notepad and called it "resettofactory.bat"

I then put it and the SWM files into a folder called "factoryreset"

Should I have just called the folder "HDDRecovery" and then another folder called zzimage?

jaclaz

Posted 02 November 2012 - 03:50 AM

jaclaz

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@pniesetYou still fail to report how EXACTLY (with which tools, with which commands, etc., i.e. EXACTLY) you attempted to add those files to a DVD.The error message you posted seems about a non-bootable DVD, but is confused and misses any meaningful detail:

ok I have tried this method and the DVD's wont work for me I did like this post suggests and put the folder "Factoryreset" in the root of a Windoes 7 repair and when I booted it up got an error message stating that I needed to put in a bootable media device. tried it where I used the Windows 7 repair disk without the extra and was able to put the dvd with the SWM files on it into the drive but got another error. So what am I doing wrong here?

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try to read it with an objective mind , how do you suppose that anyone can guess what you have done (and further than that guess which is the issue at hand)?

kohlerbkqn seemingly posted about the "official" Toshiba method to create the install/recovery media on DVD, about which you may read about here:https://www.csd.tosh...2753749&pf=trueWhy don't you give it a try?If it works it is completely automated.

carlos1984

Posted 21 March 2013 - 06:46 PM

carlos1984

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my preinst files are over 10 gb there is 17 swm files in the zzimage folder, what do i do, also tried the second method and i cannot cd to my usb hard drive. have to use usb hard drive cause its the only media i have where i can store all swm files.

jaclaz

Posted 22 March 2013 - 04:47 AM

jaclaz

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my preinst files are over 10 gb there is 17 swm files in the zzimage folder, what do i do, also tried the second method and i cannot cd to my usb hard drive. have to use usb hard drive cause its the only media i have where i can store all swm files.

Well, just like the member right above you, you are failing to provide any meaningful detail to try and help you, if it is a "generic" rant is OK , if you need assistance do provide a DETAILED, EXHAUSTIVE, ACCURATE descripotion of what you have, what you did, what happened, standard litany:http://homepage.ntlw...ard-litany.html

bttnzz

Posted 23 March 2013 - 06:52 PM

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Just a question, If I use the procedure described in the first post, will be possible to regain the HDDRECOVERY in a hidden partition on the HDD like when it came from factory? or, it is just a way to reinstall the OS and proprietary software?

carlos1984

Posted 23 March 2013 - 09:27 PM

carlos1984

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i dont know what you mean I told you that the file i copied from the HHDRECOVERY are over 10gbs ,therefore I cannot burn the dvd/cd, so I was asking what other method to use, but I figured out that if I use my 500gb usb hdd and partititon it with a 15gb FAT32, I managed to get it to load but , then where you see the progress bar , it got to 100 and I restarted. But system still didnt load, So finally tried a changing my internal HDD and installed windows from usb and it worked. So basically the problem was that my system hard drive was currupt and had bad sectors , but when I hooked it up to other pc windows said the drive was healthy. Only reason I seen the bad sectors was after running a CHKDSK /R on it. I have resolved my problem.
BUt I have a question on a similar subject is it possible to repair bad sectors on a hard drive and if so what program, also is it possible to rebuild the TOSHIBA SYSTEM and HDDRECOVERY partitions on a fresh hard drive?

maxXPsoft

Posted 23 March 2013 - 10:37 PM

far as bad sectors just select the thing in Windows explorer and choose properties then Tools and then Check Nowselect both boxes and rebootsshot-1.png65.36KB2 downloads

file i copied from the HHDRECOVERY are over 10gbs

so think about that. A windows 7 dvd is about 2.5 to 3.60 GBThe recovery partitions are images in other words installed systems like Acronis or Macrium Reflect would do or even Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Backup and Restore image

You can create those recovery partitions but why?Just use a backup system of your own without all the OEM junk crap they install. Acronis or Macrium Reflect Free are good choices and even the Windows Backup and Restore works but I prefer Acronis for many years

Tripredacus

Posted 25 March 2013 - 09:18 AM

Just use a backup system of your own without all the OEM junk crap they install. Acronis or Macrium Reflect Free are good choices and even the Windows Backup and Restore works but I prefer Acronis for many years

A lot of people that use those tools are having difficulty when using them on Ultrabooks because of the specific partition sizes, extra software. In my opinion, Ultrabook is a failure in this respect.

bttnzz

Posted 26 March 2013 - 01:00 PM

bttnzz

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What if some of us still have the HDDRECOVERY in HDD? and only lost the factory's master boot record.

Could be created a CD that contains a win 7 (32/64 bits) repair ISO with a batch file in root that refers to copy, unzip and run the SWM files that are within HDDRECOVERY partition to a temp file?
Of course, the HDDRECOVERY have to exist on HDD, be unhidden and with an assigned letter.

jaclaz

Posted 26 March 2013 - 01:12 PM

jaclaz

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What if some of us still have the HDDRECOVERY in HDD? and only lost the factory's master boot record.

Could be created a CD that contains a win 7 (32/64 bits) repair ISO with a batch file in root that refers to copy, unzip and run the SWM files that are within HDDRECOVERY partition to a temp file?Of course, the HDDRECOVERY have to exist on HDD, be unhidden and with an assigned letter.

THX

Sure it can be done, see the first post on this thread, as long as the recovery .iso can access the internal hard disk, the same command would work alright.But I am missing the need/usefulness of a temp file.

bttnzz

Posted 26 March 2013 - 02:15 PM

bttnzz

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I asked in Toshiba Community about RECOVERY DVD'S , and say that the HDD will be restored completly, citing "includes all the hidden partitions and the master boot record. - all the bytes on the disk are restored", then if this is true, all the HDD must be erased to create 2 partitions (1 hidden and C:), this meaning that original HDDRECOVERY files have to stay in any place before this happen.

jaclaz

Posted 26 March 2013 - 02:27 PM

jaclaz

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I asked in Toshiba Community about RECOVERY DVD'S , and say that the HDD will be restored completly, citing "includes all the hidden partitions and the master boot record. - all the bytes on the disk are restored", then if this is true, all the HDD must be erased to create 2 partitions (1 hidden and C:), this meaning that original HDDRECOVERY files have to stay in any place before this happen.

Thx

Yes, but you were talking about the recovery partition, NOT about the DVD's.

Follow me.

If you have a "botched" System, you press a hot key and you access (through the special MBR or *whatever*) the HDrecovery option.

To do so, *something* in the hidden HDrecovery partition is booted and this something will restore *anything* BUT itself.

If you use the DVD, it means that either:

you have a "botched" MBR and you cannot access anymore the HDrecovery partition

that the recovery partition is "botched"

or both the above.(otherwise you would use the HD recovery partition through the MBR to restore)

So, the set of DVD's must necessarily restore *everything* including the HDrecovery partition.

As a matter of fact, though I cannot say how exactly the Toshiba works, the "normal" way is that the DVD(s) ONLY contain (and restore) the MBR and the recovery partition, then in a second phase, the "main" system partition is recreated from the (just deployed from DVD) HDrecovery one.

Alex25

Posted 07 August 2014 - 10:56 AM

Alex25

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Is any of you to guideme to restore my Toshiba p845-s4200., step by step., i am not so wise in this mather, but i will do exactly your comands!First: I have my 5 disc restore, but the machine do not read the files preinst*.wsm, even when there are at the disk, also said to me that ther is no BOOTMGR.i could go to my c prompt and then look for the partition "X"recovery and in the windos file there is the exe, but could not make it run and it did not reach and said is not posibble. said restatI can give all the details for wat i have had done, but i will like to know if it is posible to assitme on this crash and failure with my recovery, the first post is a long time ago so, it may be no body abaible.sincerlyAlex

jaclaz

Posted 07 August 2014 - 12:12 PM

jaclaz

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Let's see.

Before anything else, WHAT is the actual problem?

I mean, restoring/resetting to factory is probably what you think is the proper way to solve a problem like "Cannot boot from disk" or "Cannot find BOOTMGR" or some other issues that - hopefully - can be repaired (as opposed to go through a factory reset).

If, on the other hand, you really *need* or *want* to do a factory reset, try doing according to Toshiba instructions.

What happens if you follow (before anything else) the recovery procedure in the manual?

Ntantor

Posted 23 August 2014 - 11:45 AM

Ntantor

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Hi, this is my 1st post in this forum and wanted to say thanks for all the information i have found here.

I have a similar problem. A friend of mine decided to be a "pro" on computers and had the amazing idea of formatting his Toshiba with a normal Windows CD instead of asking and using the recovery partition (btw he didn't create the recovery disks). Thankfuly he didn't delete / format the recovery partition. Seing that what he did was stupid he brought me his laptop to help him recover it.

So.. I followed your instructions in this way:

1. The .swm files (15 files) were too big for a dvd so i created a bootable windows usb in which i copied all of the .swm files in a folder Factoryreset in the root directory alongside with the imagex file

2. Booted the Windows installation as you said, from the USB, then “ repair your computer “, then “ Command Prompt “, went into the factoryreset folder and run "imagex /ref PREINST*.SWM /apply PREINST.SWM 1 C:\"

3. After that i got the message "The subsystem needed to support the image type is not present", that i solved after downloading another x64 imagex from microsoft and rerun the procedure

4. That worked. The procedure completed succesfully 100%

5. Restarted the laptop but nothing happened. Booted again into my friend's "clean" windows installation. I noticed though that a new folder in C:\ was created: "Recovery\Windows RE" with a file "WinRE.wim" inside (195MB). To be sure, i deleted the folder, restarted the computer, the folder wasn't there, i rerun the procedure and the folder was created again..
6. So.. the big question is ..now what?

Thanks in advance for your responses!!!

PS: before that i installed toshiba recovery disc creator application, hoping it would work. No lluck. Gave error message "No HDD recovery Area!" even though the recovery partition is there, untouched (size and files unharmed)

jaclaz

Posted 23 August 2014 - 12:05 PM

Usually (but you need to confirm this on the specific notebook) there are three (primary) partitions:

1) a (small, ususally 100 or 200 Mb) partition that conatians the BOOTMGR and the \boot\BCD <- this is normally not mounted and has thus NO drive letter assigned in Explorer

2) a (large) partition that contains the actual OS, that is mounted automatically and gets drive letter C:\ normally in Explorer

3) a (medum sized, possibly 10 Gb or so) that contains the "recovery" files <- this is normally not mounted and has thus NO drive letter assigned in Explorer

Now was the hard disk repartitioned? (adding partitions?)

I mean, when in your reported step #2 you apply the image to drive C:, the step #5 seems a logical impossibility as there is not anymore on C: the "my friend's "clean" windows installation" as it would have been overwritten by the contents of the applied image.

It is also not clear in step #5 how exactly you "switched" from "nothing happened" to "Booted again into my friend's "clean" windows installation."

Ntantor

Posted 24 August 2014 - 01:31 PM

Usually (but you need to confirm this on the specific notebook) there are three (primary) partitions:

1) a (small, ususally 100 or 200 Mb) partition that conatians the BOOTMGR and the \boot\BCD <- this is normally not mounted and has thus NO drive letter assigned in Explorer

2) a (large) partition that contains the actual OS, that is mounted automatically and gets drive letter C:\ normally in Explorer

3) a (medum sized, possibly 10 Gb or so) that contains the "recovery" files <- this is normally not mounted and has thus NO drive letter assigned in Explorer

Now was the hard disk repartitioned? (adding partitions?)

I mean, when in your reported step #2 you apply the image to drive C:, the step #5 seems a logical impossibility as there is not anymore on C: the "my friend's "clean" windows installation" as it would have been overwritten by the contents of the applied image.

It is also not clear in step #5 how exactly you "switched" from "nothing happened" to "Booted again into my friend's "clean" windows installation."

jaclaz

Hi friend! Thanks for the response!

As you correctly mentioned, the 3 partitions still exist.. The small partition, the partition containing the OS and the partition containing the toshiba recovery. It is possible (and that is what happened actually) to install Windows onto the OS partition. And the computer will work and boot into windows without the other 2 partitions be affected.. So when i say it booted again into windows i mean the OS installed by my friend.

1. To summarize, it was NOT repartitioned.. Just the windows was installed on the 2nd partition that contained the "original" OS by toshiba

2. As i mentioned, i followed the steps provided above and used imagex. The procedure completed 100%, then i restarted the notebook and the windows booted again as before i did anything. That is what i mean.. as what you said.. The windows my friend installed have not been overwritten by the contents of the applied image.. Just that new folder was created in C:\ as "Recovery\Windows RE" with a file "WinRE.wim" inside (195MB).

I apologize if that isn't clear enough.. I don't know how else to explain it.. Thanks though for your effort and response!